People create quality.
At Northeast Health, we have more than 5,000 people doing just that.
At Northeast Health, we've embraced quality as our number one priority. That's why we're committed to these nationally recognized, network-wide quality initiatives -----
Institute for Healthcare Improvement - IMPACT Hospitals, 100,000 Lives Campaign and 5 Million Lives Campaign
In 2004, Albany Memorial Hospital and Samaritan Hospital joined the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a Boston-based, international not-for-profit organization focused on driving the improvement of healthcare by advancing quality, value and breakthrough improvements in healthcare. Through their membership in IHI, the hospitals are proud participants of IMPACT, a network of nationally known hospitals collaborating to identify best practices.
In early 2005, Albany Memorial and Samaritan hospitals became the first hospitals in the Capital Region to enroll in the IHI's 100,000 Lives Campaign, a first-of-its-kind national initiative to improve quality of patient care through clinical best practices and methods known to reduce harm and save lives. In fact, Albany Memorial and Samaritan are the only hospitals in this region committed to all six clinical changes ----
- Creation of rapid response teams at the first sign of patient decline.
- Development of reliable, evidence-based care for heart attacks.
- Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia through use of five scientifically grounded steps.
- Prevention of central-line infections by implementing a series of interdependent procedures.
- Prevention of surgical-site infections by adopting a series of simple measures.
- Prevention of adverse drug events through medication reconciliation.
Last December, the IHI unveiled its newest quality endeavor, the 5 Million Lives Campaign. It challenges hospitals to continue utilizing the best practices identified in the 100,000 Lives Campaign, and calls for them to adopt six new changes to patient care aimed at preventing harm, including preventing infections in the hospital, and reducing surgical complications, pressure ulcers and harm from high-alert medications.
A fundamental principle for healthcare providers is 'first, do no harm.' It is our duty, our responsibility to provide patient care that helps and heals ... and at the very least, does not harm.
American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging - Quality First
During 2005, The Eddy committed to Quality First, a philosophy of quality and a framework for earning public trust in aging services developed by the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA). ECRC and other Eddy affiliates have completed a self-study of the strengths and opportunities for improvement at each facility. Key themes to emerge include the need for greater community involvement (through volunteer opportunities and community outreach), the opportunity to develop leading-edge care and services, and the need to provide more consumer-friendly information.
Service Excellence
Not only do our customers deserve the highest quality care, but they also deserve the highest quality experience. Nearly two years ago, we introduced Service Excellence, a customer satisfaction initiative to assure that our "customers" receive the best service possible in every service encounter.
Service Excellence is a major cultural change that takes time and needs to be approached from many directions --- from the development and implementation of Service Excellence standards to the introduction of "Catch a Shining Star," a recognition program to reward staff members who provide outstanding service, and "Service Recovery" to provide a way to quickly resolve customer issues.
Lean Performance Improvement
Since 2004, Northeast Health has implemented the Lean process of performance improvement to increase efficiency and productivity, while reducing costs and waste ... thus improving quality of care. Based on the Toyota Production System, Lean is an integrated approach to designing and improving work toward an "ideal state," which is customer-focused and involves people at all levels using common practices and principles.
Check out our:
Hospital quality data at www.hospitalcompare.hhs/gov.
Nursing home quality data at www.medicare.gov/NHCompare.
Home care quality data at www.medicare.gov/HHCompare.